


It's All That Matters Now

by dt101



Series: Lovers [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 02:42:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18085898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dt101/pseuds/dt101
Summary: Sequel to Near LoverAfter their reunion and reconciliation they don't waste anytime making things right.Minor smut and tons of cheezy fluff





	It's All That Matters Now

After the brief but solemn memorial, the trio returned to the castle. They went to part on the stairs but Aqua stopped them “Wait, let us just... talk.”

They went into the sitting room where they had communed hundreds of times before after dinner with Master Eraqus and they all just spoke about what had happened to each of them over the past twelve years. Everything and nothing all at once and they were up until past midnight. 

“Well I am getting sleepy. So I don’t know about you guys but I’m going to head to bed.” Ven said getting up and leaving Aqua and Terra sitting on the sofa. 

They remained silent staring at each other a tension building between them until they heard him reach the landing at the top of the staircase. When they heard his bedroom door close they wasted no time leaping into each others arms.

“For thirteen years I pined for you.” He whispered as she burrowed her face into his neck.

“We’ve only been apart twelve.”

“Yes but there was almost a year of our separate journeys.”

That she knew all too well. 

“I thought about you all the time. For many reasons. But I just couldn’t shake how we were near lovers.”

“We were lovers, there was nothing near about it.” he said a hint of confusion at the statement she hoped he had missed.

When he returned to his body. That beautiful body. She looked into his eyes. His real, true, dark blue eyes, for the first time since they were ripped apart more then a decade previous. She had thought about him more and more in the seemingly eternal pit of sadness and loneliness. She thought of Ven too but it began to focus on him. She knew she had started to love him. Really and truly. Not just because of a simple crush or as the father of her child but just as...Terra.

She stared at the black beach thinking of his beautiful sharp face with his perfect smile. The timbre of his voice. His large gentle hands. She would dream in the endless nights. She dreamt of the one night they spent together. His body on hers, around her, inside her. 

“Let’s go to bed.” he whispered snapping her back to reality. 

She immediately climbed off him and all but ran up the stairs to her bedroom with him on her heels. She locked the door after he slipped in and they worked each other’s clothes off.

He pinned her to the bed and kissed her with an intense hunger. The several days of dark stubble on his chin scratched at her delicate skin the way she remember from that last night. They needed little foreplay. He slipped inside her, no resistance, no pain, all pleasure. He lasted longer this time, much longer. He thrust hard pounding her against the headboard banging it rhythmically off the wall behind it. He grabbed her breasts roughly in his fingers. He shifted his hips and began to thrust in at a different angle and struck a spot inside her and she called out in pleasure. He had a wicked grin and kept going at that angle until she was nearly screaming with ecstasy. She moaned loudly and felt her body tighten around him as he too moaned with pleasure and came. She milked him dry and he pulled out and lay down next to her.

“I don’t have to sneak out tonight.” he whispered as he pulled her onto him.

“What about Ven?”

“What about him?”

“He’ll find out sooner or later.” he said still trying to catch his breath from the epic effort he had just put forth.

She ran her fingers down his chest from the half dozen hairs in between his defined pecks to the more dense spattering of hairs on his taught stomach. “I have something to tell you.” she whispered knowing the time had finally come.

“We all still have a million stories to tell each other, we have forever to tell them.”

She noticed his eyes were drooping, he likely just wanted to cuddle up and go to sleep but she needed to tell him sooner then later. “This is... somewhat pressing.”

“Why didn’t you mention it when we were all chatting earlier?”

“I need to tell you alone.”

He looked concern “What is it?”

She looked down from his face to his chest and lay her cheek against his shoulder. 

“I... I... I had a baby.”

His eyes went from barely open to the size of saucers. “What?! When? In the realm?”

“No, after we were separated in Radiant Garden and before we met up six months later at the Keyblade Graveyard.”

“It’s mine.” was all he got out looking completely shaken.

“Of course it is.” she whispered.

“Oh thank god. I was scared someone... hurt you.” he exhaled and silent for a moment. “Where are they?”

“San Fransokyo.”

“We’ll have to borrow the Gummi ship off Riku and go get them.”

“I don’t know if we’ll even be able to bring her home. There’s legal things. I left her with a note one night when I had a dream you fell to the darkness. I don’t know if she’s still in the care of the city state or if she was adopted by a family.”

“I will fight anyone to have my... you said she?” she nodded “My daughter, here with us.”

“She’s almost thirteen years old, she may not even want to come live with a pair of strangers from a different world.”

“We will remain optimistic.” he said headstrong as he usually was.

“I made her a keyblade wielder when she was six weeks old. We could use training as a guise to get her to join us. She’s well past training age. We started when we were barely able to walk.”

“Thirteen years old.” he mused sleepily “It’s weird to think that I am thirty four years old, have a thirteen year old child, and I haven’t aged a day past twenty-one. She is going to be so confused. What is her name?”

“Iris Cephus.”

“You remembered my surname. Master told us to abandon those.”

“I will always remember.”

He was starting to doze, so she pulled the blankets up over them both and cuddled in for the night. She couldn’t sleep, she wished she had told Master Eraqus when she had that brief opportunity. He should’ve known as her life long foster father. She was embarrassed. She didn’t want to spill her biggest secret in front of everyone in such a vulnerable moment. She was going to have to confide in Riku to use the ship to see her as Terra insisted. 

He began to quietly snore and she still couldn’t sleep. She rolled off him and lay on her back. She could feel the sticky wetness of their love making on her thighs. She thought, knowing her luck, she’d become pregnant again from just another one night. It would be much more welcome this time, not the shame and embarrassment it had been last time. They would marry, she knew he would insist. Do it right this time.

 

* * * 

 

She didn’t remember falling asleep but she was awoken the next day by Terra brushing his fingers across her bare skin. 

“Good morning.” he whispered, sleepy eyed and voiced.

“Good morning to you.” she rasped leaning in for a kiss.

He wasn’t satisfied with just a simple peck. He covered her still naked body with kisses leaving no spot untouched. He looked into her eyes and she nodded knowing her eyes were as full of desire as his were. He entered her and took it slow compared to their passionate, loud, and rough session the night before. She came quietly fearful Ventus might be wandering around the castle on an early morning peruse. Terra grunted and again finished inside her collapsing onto her body. 

“You should go now and go get ready. Riku is coming at noon to get us and we need to have a chat with Ven before we leave.” she said slipping out of the bed and going into her en suite bathroom. 

She exited after a much needed shower and he had slipped out. No sign of him in the room save for the vanilla scent of his hair wax on the pillow next to hers. She inhaled it as she collapsed on the bed in her underwear.

She ran her hands across her body as she had the night after Iris had been born. She had lost the few excess pounds she had put on at Cradle of Hearts during her pregnancy. She thought he might have made comments on her body changes, her wider hips and slightly bigger breasts. She felt the difference significantly but one night of such intimacy separated by a dozen years seemingly made him forget, or at least not notice her changed figure. 

She dressed and went down from the tower where her bedroom was situated. Her stomach growled but she knew there was no food in the castle. She wasn’t even sure who was going to take over stewardship of the castle. She was the Master but Eraqus had told Terra to take care of her and Ven. They would have to discuss it soon as a housekeeper and grounds keeper needed to be hired and she hadn’t seen the cat that moused the castle her entire childhood, so she assumed he had quietly passed in the years past. So a new mouser would have to be acquired from a pound in the town at the base of the mountain.

She had only been to the village under Eraqus’s strict supervision as a child, and never as a teenager. She didn’t know if they would have the medical care she had become accustom to in very advanced San Fransokyo. She needed to now if the pharmacy carried birth control, any kind, in case they both decided it was not the right time for another child. She knew they had relatively modern medicine as she had been on antibiotics one time as a little girl when she got a very bad case of scarlet fever that no potion or homeopathic remedy would ease. 

Other then that one afternoon at the doctor when she was only about seven, she hadn’t had medical care not revolving around Iris. Terra had never been to the doctor for anything. Any cold or injury was always able to have been fixed by Master, or in the case of the large gash he received falling from a tree, fixed by the housekeeper. The long, and when young children were involved, often treacherous journey to the village had been avoided for a dozen stitches put in by a sewing needle with dental floss to a very uncomfortable thirteen year old Terra.

A hand touched Aqua’s arm as she was lost in thought and she jumped “Jeez, you’re jumpy.” Ven snarked. “Hungry? I could hear your stomach all the way in my room.”

She swatted at his hand and ruffled his hair as Terra descended the stairs behind them. She looked over her shoulder and he smiled as their eyes met. 

“The crab apple trees are ready for harvesting.” he announced “I saw them from my window. We can eat those until we get to the Destiny Islands.”

The trio went out together to the small grove of crab apple trees on the edge of the overgrown back garden. They took turns grabbing a couple apples before sitting on the stone bench. Aqua took a bite of the bittersweet apple and looked down. They had to tell Ven now before Riku showed up and they had to divulge why they needed the ship. Ven would be furious if they didn’t tell him first.

“So, Ven, we have something important to talk to you about.” Terra said taking the lead.

“I know you two love each other, it’s obvious.” Ven said rather casually.

“Then what we have to tell you might be less shocking.” Terra said.

“Did you two kiss last night? After I went to bed and left you alone?”

“Yes, among... other adult things.”

Ven didn’t read romances. He preferred science fiction and she had her doubts he had a stash of erotic books hidden in his bedroom like Terra had. Eraqus never discussed sex with them, he had left any knowledge they acquired up to the books, erotic or not, they read in the library. Ventus could possibly have little to no inkling as to what sex entailed. 

“We’re sleeping with each other.” Terra said bluntly.

Ven stared blankly. “Like in the same bed? Because I saw you come out of your own room this morning Terra.”

“Sex, Ven, we have sex.” He said no longer sugar coating it.

Ven looked confused further, “Isn’t that how babies are made?”

“At least you understand that.” Aqua finally said, she felt her face burning with embarrassment.

“Are you going to have a baby now?” he asked quizzically.

“I’m not sure.” she said quietly eyeing Terra beside her. 

He didn’t look alarmed or put off. She took in a deep breath and just let it out.

“I had a baby almost thirteen years ago. Before our fight with Master Xehanort and his accomplices.” 

His mouth fell agape. “Wait, what? You had a baby and didn’t tell me?”

“She didn’t even tell me.” Terra said laying a hand on his shoulder. “She was planning to but with everything that happened, it just... never happened.”

“Where? Radiant Garden?” Ven blurted out.

“No, San Fransokyo, I stayed there for six months. That’s what took me so long to find you after we had all met up at Radiant Garden.” Aqua confessed.

“You missed my birthday.” he said absently as he dropped his head and began to mull the revelation over in his head for several long moments.

“Why didn’t you tell me last night? I’m an uncle, this is a good story, you told us all the horrible dark stories. You could have at least told me the baby story.”

“I had to tell Terra privately first. That was very important. You’re only the second person to know if that makes you feel better.” Aqua sighed.

“A little.” Ven scratched his head “So Master didn’t know?”

“No, I wish I could’ve told him he was to be a grandfather.”

There was another long stretch of silence before it was ended by the whoosh of the Gummi ship arriving. 

As they boarded Terra gestured to Riku to follow him to the nook at the back of the ship “Hey we need to talk.” he said.

He explained the situation away from the ears of the others. She was glad he did it. She still felt a sick tinge of embarrassment talking about it. They reemerged from the nook and Terra was plain faced while Riku looked taken aback. “We will make your trip tomorrow.” he said to her in a quiet but gruff voice sitting back down in the captains chair.

“We can stay as long as you need.” he said regaining his composure.

 

* * * 

 

The day at the beach was fun. Playing with all the kids. They set up the huts full of sleeping bags. One for the boys, one for the girls. Terra and Aqua sat outside on the grass and waited until the kids had fallen asleep. Lea was still awake when Terra went to grab a sleeping bag. 

“Hey, so you and Aqua? You’re a thing?” 

Terra nodded shrugging him off.

“Lucky man.” he said in his wry voice.

Terra stepped past Riku and saw him swiftly shut his eyes before he opened the door and slipped out.

The night air was cool so they didn’t take off all their clothes. Pants and shorts yanked down for just enough access for a memorable experience. 

Aqua reached out and grabbed handfuls of sand as she reached climax. She still wore her fingerless gloves and sand became caught in them as she grabbed tighter. She came loudly with no regard for the teens sleeping less then fifty feet away and Terra didn’t either. He hitched up his boxers and pants and flopped onto the spread out sleeping bag. She had pulled up her shorts but couldn’t even muster the energy to roll over she was so exhausted and utterly spent. She lay on the sleeping bag still but didn’t bother cuddling into him. She fell asleep right hand still partially buried in the cool sand.

Riku woke them as dawn began to crack across the ocean “We’ll head out soon. Gather your things.”

Terra threw the sleeping bag back into the hut shaking Ventus awake to tell him they’d be gone for a while before sneaking back out and Aqua on the ship.

 

* * * 

 

They landed in San Fransokyo and she opened the navigation app on her Gummi phone and they meandered through the busy streets until they saw a park she was very familiar with. “It’s close, I often sat in this park while... you know.”

Cradle of Hearts was in an apartment building and they entered hand in hand. Aqua immediately recognized the social worker at the desk. She too raised her brows in recognition. “I can’t believe it. I thought you were dead. You disappeared with no trace all those years ago. Aqua was it? Aqua Maya?”

“Yes, it’s Aqua.”

“What happened it can’t have been something normal. You haven’t aged a day in all these years.”

“Things are... complicated. This is Terra Cephus, my partner and Iris’s father.”

Terra nodded.

“We’re looking to reconnect with her. Do you happen to have any information on her?” Aqua inquired 

“I remain in close contact with the worker who handles children taken from here into the system. Last I heard, a few years ago, she was still in the custody of the city. With her age and peculiarities I doubt that has changed. I will need to see your government identification and birth certificates before we proceed with anything about finding her and we’ll have to get a court sanction if you wish to take back custody of her.”

“Of course, where do we get these things.” Aqua asked.

“You should have them in your folders at home. Do either of you have drivers licenses?”

They shook their heads.

She handed them a card “These people can get you proper identification and them we can go from there.”

Aqua knew they’d need fakes as these people needed city state birth certificates. They had accepted her excuses years ago but metro courts wouldn’t just give a child to anyone regardless if was her own parents.

Riku took them back to Hiro’s garage and he immediately began forging the proper documents for them. They gave him their names and birthdays. He added a few embellishments and then handed them their forms “Anything for a friend of Sora’s” he said with a big smile.

They got city ID and returned to the centre. The social worker began processing their information. “You can have a seat.” she gestured to a couch as she typed on her keyboard rapidly inputting their information.

Terra grabbed a pamphlet off the table next to the couch and whispered “What’s a condom?” 

“Birth control. Pretty much the simplest form.” she whispered back.

“Really? I wonder if they sell them home.”

“I was going to look when we went to town to do the shopping and hire staff.”

“You really want to use them?”

“It would be nice to have another baby but I’m so uncertain.”

“We can discuss this later. I would like to be as involved as possible when we do it again.”

“When? So it’s a when not an if?”

“Yes, of course. I want to marry you first though.”

“Really now?” 

She wanted to kiss him then but she leaned back and sat properly on the couch and looked at the worker who was not paying any attention to them.

He read through the other pamphlets with a raised brow and she knew what they all said too well have read them years ago a million times in her boredom.

“Aqua?” the worker call out and they all but ran to the desk.

“I found her.”

She handed them a few stapled papers.

Her heart filled with joy to see a picture of her when she was an infant on the first page. 

“She’s beautiful.” Terra whispered.

“There’s an updated picture on the last page.” the worker said.

She flipped to the last page disregarding the other pages in between and on the last page a large photo of a girl with a deep stare was there. She had his intense dark blue eyes a contrast to her fairer blue eyes. Her hair was even darker then his. She had his sharp brow and sharp nose but her chubby cheeks were still like hers when she was that age. 

“Iris Cephus.” the worker chided “My friend at the orphanage says she’s a troublemaker but is often a target for bullying from the other girls her age both in care and in school, she’s a bit different.”

“Different how?” Aqua asked.

“They say she can do magic. We all dismissed it as poppycock until that mysterious boy saved the city with magic just a few months ago.”

“Sora,” Terra said “We are friends with him, we are the same as him. As is Iris.”

The worker nodded “You wish to regain custody I assume that is why you are both here?”

They nodded.

“We can arrange a meeting and we can start proceedings. There’s the whole issue with the abandonment and...”

Aqua interrupted “I didn’t abandon her. I always intended on coming back for her.”

“The court would be unlikely to see it that way but it has been thirteen years, you’re now in your thirties and you are here now with her father, that’ll work to your advantage. Are you married?”

“Soon.” Terra said.

“I see. This will take a couple days at least. I’ll get your number and call you once we get a hold of the courts. The meeting with Iris could be as soon as tomorrow. She’s honestly old enough to decide if she wants to go with you at this point. Her opinion will matter.”

They looked at each other discouraged.

They were awoken early the next morning by the phone ringing. Aqua answered and seemed excited speaking to the person on the other end. Terra felt a tinge of anxiety.

“We’ll go in at eleven and see her, talk to her.” She told him after hanging up.

He pulled her naked body back into the sheets of the hotel bed. “I can’t wait.”

They arrived at eleven and were led down a hall at a dormitory type orphanage for girls. They were escorted into a room labelled ‘Visitation Room’ and the social worker encouraged them to sit. They sat quietly as she went to fetch Iris. Terra held Aqua’s hand tight in his “I can’t wait.” he said again for what seemed like the dozenth time in three hours. 

The door opened and the worker came in followed by a small skinny girl with half her face obscured by bangs. “Iris, these are your biological parents, Terra and Aqua. They want to take you out of care so we’d like you to get introduced privately.”

Iris nodded but seemed to hide behind the worker. The worker left and closed the door behind her. Iris stood there looking at them with her dark blue eyes not saying a word.

“Iris...” Aqua said standing up and walking close to her.

Irish seemed to flinch as she reached out a hand to touch her.

“Do they hit you?” Terra asked quietly.

She shook her head “No, not the staff. The other girls do.”

“Can I touch you?” Aqua asked and Iris shrugged.

She lay her hands on her shoulders. Iris looked up at her again and brushed her side bangs behind her ear which Aqua noticed were large and round like hers. She smiled and Iris looked at her quizzically. “What?” she said confused.

“It’s so weird seeing what you look like now. Which parts of you look like me and which parts are like your father.”

Iris looked at him and narrowed her eyes, “I think I look more like him then you.”

“When you were a newborn you looked just like me.”

“That’s weird because I read in a book that babies are supposed to look like their father when they’re newly born so the father knows that it’s his baby and he won’t eat it or something very caveman-ish.”

Aqua couldn’t help but laugh “You like to read?”

Iris smiled slightly at her reaction. “Yes, or watch documentaries online. I like to learn new things.”

“You’ll love the library at our home.”

Iris made a face “You have a library? What? Are you guys rich or something?”

“Not really. We are the stewards and Master of an order that maintains a castle where young members of the order are trained.” Aqua told her avoiding revealing too much all at once.

Iris lowered her eyes. “Like magic? I can do magic.”

She held up her hand and created a small gust of wind.

“So can I.” Aqua said “I bestowed my power on you before I had to leave.”

Iris looked up at her with huge eyes before flopping her whole body forward into Aqua’s burying her face into her chest. She shook slightly for a moment before sobs came out. 

“I knew I wasn’t from here. I’ve known my whole life.” she got out in between sobs. “I want to go to your castle. I want to learn magic. I want Taylor to never punch me in the ribs and call me flat chested again. I want to leave.”

Terra was relieved. He stood up and went over to them and wrapped his big strong arms around both of them. “We can finally be a family.” he whispered to both of them.

 

* * * 

 

Aqua and Terra stayed in the city for a month and went through the legal proceedings that went surprisingly smoother then they expected. In the thick of it Aqua discovered that she was not pregnant. Her period hadn’t returned after Iris’s birth and her body had been frozen in time in the realm of darkness, so it was a bit of a shock to see the small blood stain after such a long time.

“I’m not pregnant.” she whispered to Terra and she crawled back into the bed.

“Shame really. This was almost a waste.” he murmured as he reached into his backpack at the side of the bed. 

She couldn’t see what he was grabbing so she flopped back into the sheets and closed her eyes. She felt him grab her hand in his and slip a ring down her finger. 

“I’m not very romantic and you already said yes, so...”

She opened her eyes and could see his bashful face. She looked at her hand and saw a modestly sized diamond ring. “A ring? I thought you just wore them when you got married.”

“In some worlds they buy these, engagement rings, or betrothal rings. I thought I’d waste some of the munny we had stashed and get you something nice.”

“Thank you.” 

She kissed him lightly and admired the sparkling ring in the dim light of the lamp briefly before flicking it back off and trying to get back to sleep.

“We’ll get married in six months back home in the forecourt, sound good?”

“Whatever you want.”

“It’s your wedding too.” he said.

“I’m too sleepy to think of wedding plans right now.” she said sleepily.

 

* * * 

 

They stood outside the small room where Iris slept in the orphanage as she packed her few belongings in a new suitcase they had purchased for her. “We will buy you tons of new toys and clothes when we get home.” Terra said as he lifted the rather light suitcase out of the orphanage.

They introduced her to Riku who quietly shook her hand as he eyed her up and down. She dodged his eyes and sat next to her mother at the back of the ship.

Riku dropped them off in the forecourt and went to Destiny Islands to get Ventus.

“We’ll go to the village, we have a million errands to do.” Aqua said guiding them down the largely overgrown path. 

They took Iris to a clothing store and bought her tons of new clothes. She purchased a computer for their library and stocked up on food. They hired a housekeeper and gardener before taking a family trip to the pound. They met the acquaintance of a six month old male tabby cat who was already humongous and judging by the size of his big paws he had even more potential to grow even larger. A perfect hunter.

Iris and Terra situated bags in a way they could carry them and the cat carrier back up to the castle. Aqua took the moment to steal away and duck into the pharmacy. She looked down and hoped no one would recognize her from all those years ago. She wandered the aisles and found a wall of condoms and grabbed a package at random. She also grabbed a package of various sized bandages and a bottle of painkillers to make it seem casual.

She was rung in by a young woman barely Ven’s age and she looked at her with a raised brow “Are you the new Master at the castle? I’ve never seen you around town before and they said she was back and had blue hair, not common around here.”

She nodded as she flushed and handed her the munny silently but the teen didn’t even seem to notice what she had rung in. “Have a nice day Master, hope to see you around town more often now that your back.”

“What were you getting?” Iris asked as she came out.

“Just some first aid things, bandages and stuff.” she said trying not to blush.

She stuffed the paper bag in her shoulder bag and picked up her share of the bags and they trekked back up the mountain.

 

They packed away the kitchen and Aqua took Iris upstairs and got her tucked away in an unoccupied room not far from where Master Eraqus’s had been. She knew as new Master the room was now rightfully hers but she didn’t have the heart to take it over.

They were sitting on Iris’s bed and Aqua was braiding Iris’s long dark hair “I thought it would be the same colour as your fathers but from what memories I have of my own mother, I think it’s more like her colour.” Aqua said idly twisting the hair into a tight plait.

“What happened to your mother?” Iris asked.

“She died when I was very little. My father was the magic one, never a master though. He left me in my Masters care and he died on a mission. I don’t have many memories of either of them.”

Iris opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the Gummi ship appearing in the sky.

“Why is it back?” she asked looking out the window.

“There’s someone else you need to meet.” Aqua said.

She grabbed her hand and they went down to the entrance of the castle. Ventus had burst in and shouted “Where is she?”

They descended the stairs and he whipped around. His face lit up when he saw her. “You look just like Terra!” he declared as he ran to the bottom of the stairs.

When they reached the bottom he grabbed Iris in a tight hug.

“Who are you?” Iris said very confused,

“I’m Ven, I’m your uncle, kind of uncle.”

“Hi.” she said reluctantly.

“What does your keyblade look like?” he asked vibrating with excitement.

“My what?”

“We haven’t talked about that yet.” Aqua said to him.

“What? That would’ve been the first thing I showed her.”

Aqua stood back and summoned her new keyblade and Ven did the same. Iris’s eyes widened.

“Focus on it materializing in your hand and give it a try.” Aqua said to Iris.

She closed her eyes and reached out her hand and summoned her own keyblade. She held it up to her face and examined the teeth. “This is why I can use magic right?”

“Yes.”

“You’ll train me how to use this?”

“You’ll be trained and hopefully will become a Master.” Aqua said laying a hand on her shoulder.

“Wow.” was all Iris could say.

Terra came in from a side room and came over to them.

He examined Iris’s keyblade “It looks more like mine then your mothers.” he said.

They started her training right away as she had a lot of catching up to do.

 

* * * 

 

One night they lay in bed “When will you allow me to take my Mark of Mastery?”  
he asked. 

“I thought Master’s assurance was good enough.” Aqua responded.

“I still want the formality.”

“In six months.” she said.

“Why so long? We’re getting married in two. What’s putting it off longer then needed?”

“I’m pregnant.” she whispered into his ear.

He grabbed her shoulders and shook her with excitement startling her. He had a huge smile on his face.”No way! How long have you known?”

“I think I’m about three months along. Same time as I felt something was wrong with Iris. I didn’t have morning sickness but I was late so I went to the doctor last trip to town. I’ve been putting off telling you until I went in for the next scan, which is tomorrow afternoon.”

“I’m thrilled.” he said still vibrating with excitement.

“We can find out if it’s a girl or boy tomorrow as well. I’m secretly hoping for a boy.”

“I want six daughters. All Masters, all six of them.”

“If this one is a girl as well we can maybe discuss a third but definitely not six. You’ve never had to give birth.”

“It’s not that bad is it?”

“I didn’t use painkillers during the birth and I don’t plan on for this one either and there is no pain I could possibly compare it to for you.”

“Just use the painkillers, they have them for a reason.”

“I took one after Iris was born. We grew up with healing spells and salves. You don’t understand how out of it you feel on some of those medications. They also do these spinal blocks which I also opted out of, where they inject a needle in your spine and numbs your whole lower body.”

“Jeez, I didn’t know having babies was that complicated.”

“I’m sure we can find a book about child bearing in the library. We found an erotica stash I can guarantee we weren’t the only young wielders who had an unexpected baby due to that lovely erotica stash.” she chuckled.

He laughed heartily. “I can only imagine Master Eraqus’s Master or his Master’s Master bringing in the erotic books and stashing them and poor little trainees like us a hundred years ago stumbling across them.”

They both started to laugh at the idea of a long dead trainee finding that particularly disgusting one that he had shoved back into the hidden shelf.

 

* * * 

 

“So what is it?” Terra asked brimming with excitement staring at the flesh coloured blob like creature on the screen.

The four of them were crammed into the room as the tech adjusted the wand with a focused look “I don’t see... nope, no penis. A girl.” she stated.

Terra kissed her head “I knew it.”

“This means we’re going to be outnumbered.” Ven said.

“I was outnumbered three to one for years. Three to two isn’t that bad. Besides it’ll be years before she’ll be training at your level. By then hopefully you will be a Master.”

At dinner that night Iris began asking questions “Are you going to change the wedding?”

“No, it’ll still be in two months. Everyone had planned for it and also for your formal introduction to everyone.” Aqua said with a smile.

Iris looked down nervous by the idea of meeting the other guardians.

“Can I name her?” she asked after a long pause.

“What suggestion do you have? Names among our people are very different then names in San Fransokyo.”

“Yeah, I know. I was teased for having an unfashionable old lady name.”

“It means rainbow. Didn’t you say one of your bullies name was Taylor? Now that’s a dumb name. Named after someone who makes clothes. A nature name is much more meaningful.” Terra said.

“Then can we name her Flora?”

“I encountered a fairy named Flora in my travels.” Aqua said.

“Is that a no?”

“It’s a maybe. We’ll add it to the list.”

“How many names are on the list?”

“Right now? Just Flora.”

Iris smiled.

 

* * * 

 

The wedding was small but far from quiet. Such a thing would be near impossible with the guests they had in attendance. Poor Iris was passed around as if she were a cute new baby not a young teen only a handful of years younger then most of them. They were more excited to finally meet her then to watch the brief hand binding and exchange of vows and rings in the forecourt.

Aqua finally was able to sit down after being on her starting to swell feet all day. She was just slipping her formal shoes off and putting her feet up on a chair when Namine came over to her reluctantly. “May I touch the bump?” she asked in a tiny voice.

“Sure, she’s moving right now, you might be able to feel it.”

Aqua took Namine’s hand and lay it on her stomach. She felt her kick Namine in the palm and her face lit up. “Wow! I’ve never been around... something like this before.”

“It’s the first time for everyone here except me really.” Aqua responded.

Namine sat in the chair next to her and frowned. “I am sorry you had to do that alone. You must have been very afraid.”

“I was in a very weird head space. My heart didn’t make a correct connection at the time and I was very alienated by the whole experience. But holding sweet little Iris in my arms for the first time was... something else, I have to say.”

“How is Terra taking to it?”

“He’s beyond excited. To the moon. He’s working on a nursery in the room next to ours. He’s been spending hours in there every day making sure everything is perfect.”

“I will make sure to visit when she’s born. I want to hold a baby.” Namine said smiling again.

“You’re always welcome to visit anytime.”

 

* * * 

 

As Aqua’s due date approached Terra purchased a vehicle that resembled a car from San Fransokyo but it was built for the rough mountain trail from the castle to the village.

“I know you are definitely not going to want to walk or even fly to the hospital when the time comes.” he said as she inspected the vehicle.

Less then a week later she was brushing her teeth in the bathroom after a restless nights sleep when she felt her water break. Iris and Ven insisted on coming with them in the vehicle even though they were told they would just be sitting in a waiting room for what could be a day.

The labour progressed quickly like the first time. Terra was a nervous wreck, pacing the room as she grew closer to the time for delivery.

“Come sit and hold my hand.” She insisted reaching out a hand.

He grasped it and looked at her with worry in his eyes as a strong contraction hit her and she clenched her teeth, “You’re hurting.”

“It’s not that bad,” she dismissed as it faded away.

“I’ve never seen you make such a face of pain before, ever.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve done it before and I'll probably do it again..”

“I am so sorry you had to do this by yourself last time.” he whispered kissing her sweaty forehead,

“It’s not your fault.” She hissed wincing again as another strong contraction hit. “I think it’s time.”

She pressed the button and nurse then a doctor came in. 

She grasped his hand tight. She felt his wedding ring he wore diligently every day cut into her hand and his, as she squeezed as she pushed at the doctors insistence. Four pushes over a period of about ten minutes produced a pink screaming baby girl.

“I didn’t know it’d be this fast.” Terra said in a thick voice.

They watched the nurse wipe the slime off the baby before they lay her on her mothers chest.

“Flora?”

“Flora.” Terra repeated.

After all the after birth care was taken care of and everyone was declared good and healthy he left to fetch Iris and Ven. 

Iris shouldered past her father to get to the side of the bed where Aqua was laying with baby Flora swaddled in a purple blanket. “Can I hold her?” she asked sitting in the chair next to her.

“Of course.”

Iris delicately scooped the small bundle up and held her to her chest. “Hello little Flora, I’m your big sister.” she said in a sweet high pitched voice.

Flora looked up at her with her dark murky blue eyes.

“She’s so cute.” Iris said.

She pulled back the white knitted cap a nurse had slipped over her head and revealed a coating of pale blue hair. “I’m glad she has the blue hair, not me.” she said with a snort “I couldn’t imagine having naturally blue hair in San Fransokyo.”

Iris frowned briefly but her face turned back into a smile as Flora reached a hand up to caress her chin.

 

* * * 

 

When they returned to the castle Iris was never too far from Flora’s nursery despite her own room being in another tower. Aqua went in one morning and found Iris wrapped up in a small woollen blanket that only went from collar to knees, laying on the rung next to the crib with a book of children’s fables in her hands.

It was such a different experience. A wail came through the monitor in their bedroom and Terra would get up at any hour to change a diaper or sit with her while Aqua breastfed Flora nodding off in the rocking chair.

One morning when Flora was about four months old she awoke to Terra with Flora cuddled on his chest and Iris curled up behind her in their bed. Her heart had never felt so full.

 

* * * 

 

She put off sex for longer then she knew she was capable, they told her six to eight weeks after if she was comfortable. She wasn’t sure why, tiredness maybe? 

Her period had returned to her chagrin before they slept together again.

“I read that you can go like nine months when you’re breastfeeding without a period and it can be effective birth control.” Terra said one night.

“I think that’s an outdated concept.” she said as she reread the instructions on how to put on the condoms she had purchased the year previous. 

“The social worker at the shelter told me she knew a woman who had babies ten months apart. That’s crazy.” she said.

She reread again for what felt like the hundredth time before positioning the condom on him and rolling it down. “Okay that was way easier then I thought it would be.” she said sitting back.

“I read that there was something else you were supposed to do when you rolled it down.”

“Dammit, should I try again?” 

“I think we should be good, as long as I finish in this we should be good.” he said.

“I guess so.”

“You don’t sound reassured.”

“I just heard a lot of stories of these not working but I don’t want to get on the pills until we are done having children and I want another one in a couple years.” she said with a tinge of anxiety,

“Let’s just have some fun. It’s been five months and even before that the belly was in the way so I couldn’t kiss you properly.”

They were interrupted close to climax by a moaning on the monitor. “C’mon Flora, shh.” he rasped grinding his hips against hers “Just another minute.”

It took a few more minutes then expected and they heard Ventus’s voice on the monitor. They dressed quickly and rushed into the nursery.

“We’ll take it from here.” Terra said to Ven as he sat in the rocking chair with her in his arms.

“I can handle it if you need a minute, you look like you just had a nightmare you’re all sweaty.”

“Yeah, really bad dream.” Terra muttered.

“I’m going to feed her.” She said picking Flora up out of his arms.

“And that is my cue to leave.” Ven said standing up.

“I knew that’d scare you away.” she chuckled. “They’re just breasts Ven.”

“They are yours which makes me not want to see them.” he said as he shuffled out of the room.

She slipped a breast out of the top of her tank top and Flora latched on and suckled furiously furrowing her brow with such a serious face.

“Serious about the boob, eh Flora?” Terra said rubbing her already thickening blue hair.

 

* * * 

 

“Are you pregnant?” he said to her one night a couple months later as she changed into her pyjamas. 

Her face flushed. “I had hoped I wasn’t but I think I am. How did you know?”

“You have a little bump. Really early too, you were three months with Flora before you started showing.”

“I was four and half with Iris. If it’s twins, I’ll cry. I don’t think we could handle three babies in diapers let alone attempting to breastfeed two at the same time.”

“You don’t seem very happy.”

“Honestly, it’s not the best time. I wanted to breastfeed Flora for the full year but I don’t know if I’ll be able too, then there’s the diapers. And... And... It’s just a bit much all a bit too close together.”

“You said those condoms were unreliable yourself.”

“Not that unreliable, we must’ve been doing something wrong.”

“Well, we are probably having another baby. We’ll have to adjust.” He said with finality.

 

* * * 

 

They went to the three month ultrasound and were relieved to see it was just one baby.

“Oh thank god.” Aqua said grasping Terra’s hand.

“Why is the bump bigger?” he asked.

“Well you usually show sooner with later pregnancy’s but this baby is going to be a big one, she’s already in the top size percentile but development wise she’s normal.”

“She?” Terra said brimming with joy.

“Yes, it’s a girl, you wanted to know right?”

“Yes, yes we did.”

 

* * * 

 

“Halfway there.” Terra whispered in her ear in bed several months later.

“Way more then halfway, I’m due in a month.” she whispered back sleepily.

“Halfway to six daughters.” he said with a hint of jest in his voice.

“No way, three is all your getting. I’m getting on those pills, they’re extremely effective.”

He chuckled and cuddled into her. “What will we name her?” she asked.

“Ceto?”

“That’s really masculine. How about Gaia?”

“I like it. We’ll add it to the list of one.”

 

* * * 

 

Her due date came and went and Gaia was showing no signs of budging. Ten days after her due date she was called in for an induction. They did a quick scan of the baby and the doctor sighed.  
“Is something wrong?”

“She’s gotten even bigger in the past few months. It’s to the point where a natural delivery could be dangerous. Your other girls were only what six pounds? This one will be at least nine possibly ten. I’m going to get you in for a c-section. It will be way less strenuous on your body. It’ll be a different kind of recovery but a clean incision about five inches long right above your pants line will be preferable to the kinds of vaginal tearing a big baby like that could do to you.”

Aqua nodded knowing through her research into very large babies this was probably going to be the safest way. Terra on the other hand was a wreck.

“Surgery? That’s making this whole baby thing a lot more intense then I expected. You only had like two stitches last time this is going to be like ten.”

“I’d probably have even more if I tried to push this girl out. It’s what’s best for me and her. Besides, all you have to do is put on a gown and mask and hold my hand. I just lay there numb from the stomach down and they cut me open and pull her out.” Aqua said trying to mask her nervousness.

They prepped her for surgery alone before guiding him in. His usually swarthy skin was several shades paler then usual in his fright. He sat on a rolling stool behind her head and lay his forehead against hers.

“She’ll be here soon.” She whispered trying to ease him but a splash of blood hit the curtain covering the surgical area. 

Aqua was nervous but she thought Terra was going to faint. 

“Can you feel anything?” he whispered.

“Tugging, no pain or anything. It feels really weird.”

The doctor made a jubilant noise “Here she is you two.” she said pulling the baby out and laying her on Aqua’s chest still covered in fluids and blood.

“She’s a monster.” he said reaching out one of his large hands to touch her,

“Come cut the cord.” the attending nurse encouraged him and he left their side for a moment to cut through the sinewy umbilical cord. 

He slipped back into the chair and waited out the rest of the surgery as she snuggled their goo covered daughter against her exposed chest. They politely shooed him out of the operating room as they sewed her up and began weighing and cleaning the baby. He went out into the waiting room still in his scrubs. 

Ven was there watching Flora in her stroller and Iris was on her phone. They both looked up when he came out. “She’s huge!” he exclaimed first thing.

“When can we see her?” Iris asked.

“She’s going to be in recovery for about an hour then everyone can go in for a visit.”

 

* * * 

 

Aqua was laying in the small hospital bed holding the large chunky bundle that was her youngest daughter. It was starting to get dark outside. It was winter and the sun set around dinner time. She remembered the winter Iris was born. She was born at six in the morning. Flora was at one in the afternoon, now Gaia, four in the afternoon. 

The seclusion of the recovery room gave her bad flashbacks of the utter loneliness she felt the day Iris was born, how lost and alone she was back then. She ran her nails through the relatively thick mop of dark brown hair on Gaia’s head and almost cried at the thought of having to be alone again when she heard a knock at the door and the four of them came in noisily bearing gifts, food, and tea. 

She moved as much as her very sore core would bare to allow Iris, her first born who was now nearly as tall as her to slip in the small bed beside her. She immediately took Gaia from Aqua’s arms and gave her the thorough big sister look over. Ven held struggling Flora who wanted to see her mommy. She reached out her arms and held still a baby Flora in an awkward but loving embrace.

Flora didn’t speak many words but she was extremely observant. She pointed at Gaia’s head said, look, then pointed at her fathers head. Then pointed at her own head and then lightly patted her mothers head.

“Yes, Gaia has brown hair like daddy and you have blue hair like mommy. Iris’s is like your grandmothers.” 

Flora didn’t comprehend the part about her decades deceased grandmother but she gently rubbed Gaia’s huge chubby cheek. “Bubu?”

“Yes, baby, like you but smaller.” she chided as Flora snuggled into her and lay her head on her chest.

She saw Terra walk to the end of the bed and take a picture of the four of them cuddled up in the tiny bed.

“Oh don’t I look awful. I have IV’s in me still and I’m pale as a sheet.” she scolded him but he took a picture anyway.

“This is probably never going to happen again.”

“I’m sure we’re going to cuddle again sometime soon.” 

“Usually you’re the sentimental one.” he said snapping several more photos before handing his phone to Ven and squeezing in next to Iris while he snapped a couple of all five of them.

“I’m just reminiscing and it’s not good reminiscing.” she said quietly kissing Flora’s forehead as she looked up at her with her big blue eyes.

“We left our wayfinders behind but these three little girls. Children we created together are our forever unbreakable connection. Our legacy, our bond. Think of it that way and maybe it’ll bring better memories.” He said in a serious tone.

Ventus caught on that this was going to be a sensitive discussion so he grabbed Iris’s arm and guided her out of the room. 

Aqua was slightly off from the pain medication and was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. 

“I didn’t love you then. I do now, of course. I will always love you for the rest of my life, but back then I didn’t love you that way. And when I found out about Iris I was so terrified. I was so ignorant of the world outside the castle a doctor had to explain to me that you don’t have to love someone for them to get you pregnant. I never told you that did I?”

Terra shook his head, his brows were knitted with concern.

“I’m sorry, it’s the medication it’s making me all loopy.”

“No, no tell me about it.”

“I convinced myself she wasn’t my baby, just yours. You loved me, you created her with your love. I felt her kick me in the bladder but she wasn’t mine just yours. It wasn’t until after she was born and I looked at her that it finally hit me that she was mine too.”

Tears were running down her pale cheeks. “In the realm of darkness I had dreams and visions of you and through our bond, both through the charm and through our child, I grew to love you from a distance. I had a very intense vision of you. I thought it was actually you for a moment. I almost confessed everything but it was just a trick.”

She sobbed and Flora rested her head on her shoulder. “Mama.” she said quietly.

Aqua held Gaia tight to her before Terra delicately took her out of her arms and held her to his chest before sitting next to her on the bed.

He took a deep breath and finally said, “I have loved you since I was eighteen years old, only a few years older then Iris. It doesn’t matter when you fell in love with me, that’s all in the past. All that matters is now. You and I here with our baby daughters we are raising together. Our first born is a teenager who we’re training to take up our mantle someday. Our family is all that matters.”

**Author's Note:**

> this took FOREVER to write i don't know why. oh well hope it sates your need for terraqua fluff
> 
> update 5/20/19 ha I saw that someone else named a Terra/Aqua baby Iris and judging by the boys name they picked we were both thinking on the same page as i almost made a boy character named zephyr which means west wind and they went with gale for their boy baby.
> 
> If you haven't read it yet it's Your Heart is the Only Place That I Call Home by Lyssala it's more prose focused, beautifully written and really a nice long form. i love me a good long form baby fic as a wanna be harlequin romance writer
> 
> <3 peace


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